“Mom, I think I’ve had a stroke.”
This was the greeting from my nineteen-year-old son when I walked in the door one Friday evening after work. At the ER, the Ear, Nose and
Throat doctor discovered a paralyzed vocal cord.
“It’s either a stroke, MS or a brain stem tumor.”
With everything pointing to stroke, Grant was approved for Tampa General Hospital’s Rehabilitation Center. We never considered entertaining
the other options. My ex-husband, Ray, my boyfriend, Mark, and I were hopeful and excited – until Grant had a heart attack and we found ourselves
in the ICU on a diagnostic merry-go-round of mysterious symptoms spinning out of control. The doctors first determined Grant had a
cryptogenic stroke – a technical term for “We don’t know what the hell caused it.” But buckle up, Buttercup. It was going to be a wild ride to the
very end. After the death of my nineteen-year-old son, Grant Miller Galvin, from a brain stem tumor, I floated through several years of navigating through a fog amidst friends, family, acquaintances, and strangers.
I came to a point where I knew I needed to wake up and be a part of society again.
A person can’t roam the earth in a cloud pretending they’re relevant when they can hardly put one foot in front of the other. Dinosaurs had better survival instincts in their last days than I could muster. They say year three can be the toughest, and by Christmas I was so near the bottom I could touch the rock with my toe. After having tried different therapy options, I gravitated to changing my brain patterns to move toward positive thoughts rather than negative ones through neuro linguistic programming. As year four pressed in on me, along with a pandemic, I could no longer ignore the last request of Grant Miller to write his story.
Whether he could be a part of the process or not.
I sought out groups of writers, grief platforms and publishing opportunities and made the decision to sit, write, edit, cry and tell the tale only he could have inspired through his short, well-lived life. After eighty-five days, a few bottles of wine and boxes of tissues, Grace for Grant: A Journey with an Old Soul, wrote itself while my fingers tried to keep up on the keyboard. What he wanted was a journal of our days interjected with his observations from a locked-in vantage point.
He always expected to wake and join me in the process.
He never did.
So, I sat down alone with the text messages, Facebook posts, doctor reports and personal revelations to build not only a story, but a legacy for the child who wanted more than anything to live. And building a legacy is what we’ve done. People ask every day if the writing experience was cathartic. I’m sure it was; I’m still waiting for the full effect. What I hope to see is that this chronicle will help others live through loss and deal with terminal illness. We all fear the unimaginable and wonder how life goes on when it happens. It’s not easy but it’s possible.
And necessary.
And it does.
I’d like to see more research on brain stem tumors and through the book sales and blog offerings, be able to donate proceeds to organizations that can make that happen.
We have a copy of the book we call “The Go Book”
It goes with us On The Road Less Traveled, my blog documenting our travels and explorations sharing our findings with our readers and audience. These followers consist of all ages, males and females, and anyone out there who loves travel, history, learning new things, and observing as Grace for Grant touches lives we never even imagined it would. We’d like to thank The Author’s Lounge for their interest and support of our story. As these series are released and Grace for Grant continues to make its mark on the world, we continue to spread the word of Grant and write murder mysteries to entertain and lift up our readers. We are also proud of Grace for Grant for winning the silver medal in the Global Book Awards.
Grant is with me every day and I know he is thrilled with this completed endeavor. Because when he’s not happy, I surely know it.
And so do others. He is beaming from above, watching out for those he left behind and enjoying his other-worldly existence. When you see an angel in the clouds,
a rainbow over your shoulder or a skateboard whizzing by, know that he’s by your side. And you are loved and safe.
You can find the kindle and paperback versions on Amazon.com along with our mysteries. You can find the hardback commemorative edition with a
bonus chapter at Live Life Rich Moments
Join us on Social Media
